A “Bold,” “Confident,” and Entertaining Moment at the Dedication of Eckstein Hall
In the photo above, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson (left) and Marquette University President, Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J., (right), respectively applaud and laugh as Justice Antonin Scalia smilingly greets Judge Diane S. Sykes, upon her introducing him as the keynote speaker at the dedication of Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall on September 8, 2010. Occasioning the particular good humor were these closing lines of Judge Sykes’s introduction:
“When Dean Kearney unveiled the plans for this beautiful building two years ago, he famously declared that Eckstein Hall will be ‘noble, bold, harmonious, dramatic, confident, slightly willful, and, in a word, great.’ It certainly is. And with the possible exception of ‘harmonious’—Justice Scalia has been known to say that one of his charms is that he likes to tell people what they don’t want to hear—the dean’s description of this distinguished and splendid building might likewise be applied to our distinguished and splendid visitor. So, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the noble, bold, dramatic, confident, slightly willful, and, in a word, great Justice Antonin Scalia.”
Diane S. Sykes, L’84, recently completed her service as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and moved to senior status. During her career as a circuit judge in Milwaukee County, a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, and a judge of the Seventh Circuit, she has given numerous lectures and talks, both in Wisconsin and across the nation. Here are condensed and edited excerpts from five of her speeches, including two given last year at Marquette Law School. They shed light on Sykes’s legal approach, her respect for the judicial system, and her great interest in the law and the history of the United States.
Minimalism and Its Limits
This is an edited text of a speech Judge Sykes gave as the B. Kenneth Simon Lecture in Constitutional Thought at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., on September 17, 2014, shortly before the beginning of the Supreme Court’s 10th term during the tenure of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. The full version can be found at 2015 Cato Sup. Rev. 17 (2015). Read here…
Lincoln and the Human Dimension of Law Practice
This is an edited text of remarks by Chief Judge Sykes at the Marquette Law Review banquet on March 28, 2025. Read here…
Citizens United in the Montana Supreme Court
This is an edited text of a talk Judge Sykes gave on a number of occasions, starting in November 2012. Read here…
Thoughts on the Book, Cosmic Constitutional Theory, by Judge
J. Harvie Wilkinson III
This an edited text of remarks by Judge Sykes to the Indianapolis Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society on December 12, 2012. Read here…
Learning the Rules, the Language—and the Pursuit of the Common Good
This is an edited text of remarks by Chief Judge Sykes at the orientation for first-year Marquette law students on August 22, 2025. Read here…
